Well not quite mechanic...haven't got that far. Ordering spares on line turned into a feeding frenzy as usual. Got new brake cables and figure I'd do the gears as well. Ordered. Paid for. Done. My bike is Di2

I bought an ancient road bike for leaving at my local train station when I CBF riding to work. The theory being that if it gets knocked, I just buy another "gumtree bike". Thought I'd get a road bike as then I could use the worn 700c tyres hanging on my garage wall and keep costs to a minimum.

When I got it home and tried replacing the perished tyres, I found out that 27" tyres are (were?) a thing. I've now spent more on a set of tyres ($30) than I spent on the entire bike ($25).

fat and old wrote:Well not quite mechanic...haven't got that far. Ordering spares on line turned into a feeding frenzy as usual. Got new brake cables and figure I'd do the gears as well. Ordered. Paid for. Done. My bike is Di2

If you're still somewhere around the corner from me, let me know and I'll come and grab the cables from you. Some of us still use that old-fangled cable technology.

Fitted up a mate's S-Works Tarmac with a complete new 9100 groupset (all bar a 1'st generation 11 speed 105 crankset).Oooow it's nice stuff.No problems mixing the 1'st gen. 5800 crankset with 2'nd gen. 9100 front derailleur. The 105 crankset we fitted with 39/53 Blackspire rings. They change beautifully and match the black 105 cranks very nicely.Having come from 10 speed 7900 to this he is a very happy man.Took 'er out for a 50 km test run and everything works like a charm.Another matter, Shimano recommend max. rear cog size of 30T. We fitted an 11-32 cassette and all is well. Plenty of chain wrap and chain length at both ends of the cogs.A last point of interest was that a Wipperman chain wouldn't run very smoothly across the pulley wheels, nor did a 105 chain. The KMC X11 SL chain worked perfectly. No idea why.

Tim wrote:Fitted up a mate's S-Works Tarmac with a complete new 9100 groupset (all bar a 1'st generation 11 speed 105 crankset).Oooow it's nice stuff.No problems mixing the 1'st gen. 5800 crankset with 2'nd gen. 9100 front derailleur. The 105 crankset we fitted with 39/53 Blackspire rings. They change beautifully and match the black 105 cranks very nicely.Having come from 10 speed 7900 to this he is a very happy man.Took 'er out for a 50 km test run and everything works like a charm.Another matter, Shimano recommend max. rear cog size of 30T. We fitted an 11-32 cassette and all is well. Plenty of chain wrap and chain length at both ends of the cogs.A last point of interest was that a Wipperman chain wouldn't run very smoothly across the pulley wheels, nor did a 105 chain. The KMC X11 SL chain worked perfectly. No idea why.

Those KMC X11SL chains are worth their money. Love them. Run very smoothly.

I had to do some front derailleur adjustment - but it has no barrel adjuster on the cable, had shift to the small chain ring, adjust the limit screw and then adjust the cable tension. When done, adjust the limit screw back and shift back to the big chain ring. All quiet again.

Apart from that, cannot complain. The bike is running very smoothly and quiet. I could change the RD back to DA9000 (it is a medium cage Ultegra 8000 now) but given I'm likely making two more trips overseas with that bike, might as well leave it as is then I can use whatever cassettes I want.

R9100, R8000 and 5801 (little-known late-model update to the current 105 series) front derailleurs in theory don't need a barrel adjuster, because they have a funky rotating cable anchor driven by a grub screw for on-board tension adjustment.

There's still a bit of a knack to setting up, but they're easier than the long-arm 9000/6800/5800 models.

Yes, very good chains. Even the cheaper X10.93 or X11.93 run nicely.I became a KMC fan after 10 speed Dura Ace chains were discontinued.They run more quietly than Ultegra chains and give me at least 5000km's of reliable useage.

Duck! wrote:R9100, R8000 and 5801 (little-known late-model update to the current 105 series) front derailleurs in theory don't need a barrel adjuster, because they have a funky rotating cable anchor driven by a grub screw for on-board tension adjustment.

There's still a bit of a knack to setting up, but they're easier than the long-arm 9000/6800/5800 models

I learnt how to setup the 9000 a few years ago which is not dissimilar to the 9100 procedure. It really is a case of RTFM and follow it to the letter.I like the on-board, grub screw tensioning adjustment. Particularly the alignment marks on the derailleur body. The only anomaly I found was that when the marks were aligned and limit screws set there was no cage movement between the Low and Low Trim position. A bit more fiddling though and everything worked perfectly.

Firstly I tried carrying a sign with one arm while riding my bike. The heavy sign didn't turn a corner with my bike, went into spokes, then seat stay. Frame out of action now until repair.

Bought replacement bike (was due one anyway). Set it up on my bike stand. I must not have secured the rear wheel/skewer properly, because at a crit the rear wheel locked up under power and spat me over the bars. The wheel was out of the drops so I can only presume the chain tension pulled it loose. Lesson - no more tightening QRs while holding wheel up against bike in workshop stand. Do it on the ground.

Then tonight I went to change the wheels on my wife's bike, a Giant Liv. I've not changed them yet. I lent on the QR and it took a huge effort to get the lever to bend. Mainly because - you guessed it - I was bending it. Instead of turning it (who comes up with these crazy ideas?)

jules21 wrote:I'm not a champion bike mechanic. I've had a horror week.

Firstly I tried carrying a sign with one arm while riding my bike. The heavy sign didn't turn a corner with my bike, went into spokes, then seat stay. Frame out of action now until repair.

Bought replacement bike (was due one anyway). Set it up on my bike stand. I must not have secured the rear wheel/skewer properly, because at a crit the rear wheel locked up under power and spat me over the bars. The wheel was out of the drops so I can only presume the chain tension pulled it loose. Lesson - no more tightening QRs while holding wheel up against bike in workshop stand. Do it on the ground.

Then tonight I went to change the wheels on my wife's bike, a Giant Liv. I've not changed them yet. I lent on the QR and it took a huge effort to get the lever to bend. Mainly because - you guessed it - I was bending it. Instead of turning it (who comes up with these crazy ideas?)

I feel like giving up.

Hope you are alright.

Do those Giant Liv bikes have those horrid ratchet style QR skewer tightening system? About the worst thing ever! Especially if you have to change a tyre in the pouring rain.

jules21 wrote:I'm not a champion bike mechanic. I've had a horror week.

Firstly I tried carrying a sign with one arm while riding my bike. The heavy sign didn't turn a corner with my bike, went into spokes, then seat stay. Frame out of action now until repair.

Bought replacement bike (was due one anyway). Set it up on my bike stand. I must not have secured the rear wheel/skewer properly, because at a crit the rear wheel locked up under power and spat me over the bars. The wheel was out of the drops so I can only presume the chain tension pulled it loose. Lesson - no more tightening QRs while holding wheel up against bike in workshop stand. Do it on the ground.

Then tonight I went to change the wheels on my wife's bike, a Giant Liv. I've not changed them yet. I lent on the QR and it took a huge effort to get the lever to bend. Mainly because - you guessed it - I was bending it. Instead of turning it (who comes up with these crazy ideas?)

I feel like giving up.

Hope you are alright.

Do those Giant Liv bikes have those horrid ratchet style QR skewer tightening system? About the worst thing ever! Especially if you have to change a tyre in the pouring rain.

Hang in there!

Some do, some don't depending on the model; Liv isn't a particular model, it's the branding for Giant's entire range of women's bikes.

Do those Giant Liv bikes have those horrid ratchet style QR skewer tightening system? About the worst thing ever! Especially if you have to change a tyre in the pouring rain.

Hang in there!

Are these like the DT swiss RWS Skewers? I actually like these skewers. I run a thru-axel version on my commuter (10x135mm), which works really well. The skewer can’t be accidentally knocked open, and you don’t have ti much around with getting just the right clamping force. You can also reposition the lever independently.

Do those Giant Liv bikes have those horrid ratchet style QR skewer tightening system? About the worst thing ever! Especially if you have to change a tyre in the pouring rain.

Hang in there!

Are these like the DT swiss RWS Skewers? I actually like these skewers. I run a thru-axel version on my commuter (10x135mm), which works really well. The skewer can’t be accidentally knocked open, and you don’t have ti much around with getting just the right clamping force. You can also reposition the lever independently.

+ 1The RWS system is fantastic - have it on all my road bikes (bar one) and my MTBs.

Rebuilt a bike on the weekend with 'new' parts. Carefully adjusted the saddle to horizontal while on the stand. Tests ok around the driveway. Off on a ride this morning and it felt like riding up hill. bike stand didn't hold the bike horizontal did it? No problems, quick trail side adjust - and pointed the nose too far down didn't I.

bychosis (bahy-koh-sis): A mental disorder of delusions indicating impaired contact with a reality of no bicycles.

Changed the rear derailleur cable after just over 7,500km. It had started to fray in the shifter. The PTFE coated cables last around 50% longer than the polymer coated cables (which I don't use, they came with the groupset).

I've been hearing a noise coming from my front wheel at low speeds. Concerned it was a spoke, checked spoke tension and all good. Back to the drawing board. Put up with it for a few months and managed to figure out what it was. A 3m sekuclip spoke reflector

fat and old wrote:Well not quite mechanic...haven't got that far. Ordering spares on line turned into a feeding frenzy as usual. Got new brake cables and figure I'd do the gears as well. Ordered. Paid for. Done. My bike is Di2

If you're still somewhere around the corner from me, let me know and I'll come and grab the cables from you. Some of us still use that old-fangled cable technology.

oops....just saw this. Sorry mate, still around the cnr but my mate put the snags on them straight away.

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